


Our Looming Fates

by Whirlwind



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fate, Handon, Love, Prophecy, The Golden Arrow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:26:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23516146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whirlwind/pseuds/Whirlwind
Summary: Unable to wake in the real world, Hope and Landon find themselves trapped in a void where they begin to finally understand the Spinx’s prophecy.
Relationships: Landon Kirby/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 15
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my poor attempt at how 2x17 could possibly play out. Pretty certain I’ll be waaaaay off, but it was a interesting concept to play around with. Decided to split this into two parts because it was getting a tad long and I was feeling a tiny bit antsy. Lol.

When Hope opens her eyes, she expects to find herself back at the school, lying on the cot inside the hidden room of Dr. Saltzman's office. That however is not what happens. Instead, Hope awakens to a very different scene.

She's in what appears to be a dull gray room that seems to stretch on forever in every direction. The last thing she remembers was getting turned to stone by Dark Josie during the confrontation between the dual sides. Was she perhaps still stuck inside her mind? If that was the case, did that mean Good Josie had lost? No. She couldn't have, right? Her friend was stronger than that. So then where was she?

Wherever Hope was, she was alone, or at least, she thought she was at first. Out of the corner of her eye she spots something off in the distance, a figure of sorts. As she moves closer, Hope tips her head in disbelief as she sees a very familiar looking curly haired boy wandering around the void.

“Landon?”

The boy turns around in surprise at the sound of his own name and squints at her, not quite believing his own eyes.

“Hope?”

A smile of relief washes over both their faces and they rush to meet each other halfway, embracing one another on contact.

She pulls back to look at him, brows knitting together in confusion. “I don’t understand, how are you here?”

“Still not really sure where _‘here’_ is." He admits sheepishly, tilting his head to gesture to their surroundings. "But, I might have a guess on how...”

Hope implores him with her eyes to explain himself and he hesitates a moment, not sure how she'll react news. She's not gonna be happy about this, but he's not going to lie to her. He knows better than that by now.

"The golden arrow...”

Hope practically does a double take at his response. “I'm sorry, what!?” Anger, concern, confusion and guilt all fight it out for the dominant emotion in her. This wasn't possible, she'd hidden it safely away. This couldn’t be happening, not while she’d been away.

Landon can see her beginning to panic, so he gently places his hands on her shoulders to calm her down and derail the train of thoughts currently consuming her mind.

“Hey. Look, it's okay. Think of it this way... Since you’re here too, that means I’m not dead! Probably...” He adds jokingly, with a teasing half smile. Hope stares at him completely unamused. She understands he's trying to lighten the mood to make her feel better, which she does appreciate, but this turn of events scares her to her core. The nightmare from weeks earlier flashes in her mind as an unwanted reminder.

"Sorry." He's quick to apologize, and decides to take a different route to help ease her fears. "We assumed that "felled" meant dying, but what if doesn't? When I researched the word, all sorts of definitions came up. It can mean to cut down a tree, it's a type of stitch, it could simply be just falling over. I mean, it's not like the Sphinx doesn't like to twist the meaning of words for the sake of a good riddle."

Hope contemplates the information a moment, chewing at her lip as she thinks it over. He was right. When they'd heard the prophecy, they had just assumed the worse. Perhaps they had jumped the gun a bit. Not to mention, there was no proof that "a new hero rises" was necessarily even about Landon. Yes, he quite literally rose when he flew, but maybe they had taken it a little too literally.

“You are pretty clumsy.” She quips lightly, making him to let out a breathy laugh.

Landon can start to feel her shoulders beginning to slowly relax as she comes around, causing him to exhale a sigh of relief and smile. That was one concern handled, but there was still a lot left to figure out. Though he wasn't dead, the golden arrow had obviously done something to him that caused him to wind up in this place, but that didn't explain why Hope was here. Last he knew, MG had sent her into Josie’s mind to perform the rescue mission.

“We need to find some way out of here.” Hope declares, drawing Landon back to the present. She pulls away and begins to search the place, trying to find something that'll get them home. Landon follows behind her.

“Hopefully you’ll have more success at this than I have."

Hope turns around in surprise at his comment. He hadn’t just arrived like she had? “How long have you been here?”

He shrugs, uncertain. “I can’t really say for sure, but probably about a day or so?”

A day? He'd already been stuck here for that long? She certainly didn’t like the sound of that.

“That’s new.” Landon comments suddenly, tipping his head in the direction behind Hope, causing her to turn back.

In the middle of the space sits large, ancient looking wooden device, with an array of multi colored strings running down vertically from a tapestry. Its aesthetic appears highly out of place amongst the gray void that surrounds it. Landon and Hope exchange a look with one another, silently agreeing to go over and check it out. After a brief survey of the contraption, they agree that it appears fairly harmless.

Landon curiously reaches to touch one of the strings when suddenly everything around them goes blindingly white. When they reopen their eyes, they find that they're no longer in the strange void anymore. They're now outside in the front yard of a quaint little house that's fairly secluded off near the woods.

But that’s not the only thing that’s different though. They're older here, they realize. Probably by about ten years. Hope's hair is a little shorter, Landon looks a bit scruffier. They stare at each other curiously, trying to understand what's just happened.

Landon opens his mouth to say something, but before the words can come out, he finds himself being interrupted by the most unlikely of sources.

"Daddy!" A little girl with dark wavy hair and bright blue eyes cries out in delight as she rushes towards him. She wraps her tiny arms around his leg and peers up at him in excitement. "You're home!"

Landon glances down at the child, then up at Hope, wide eyed and utterly dumbfounded. She too appears thoroughly confused by all this, which is honestly such a relief to him. Why on earth was this little girl calling him Daddy?

It’s then that something strange happens. Something shifts inside his mind and faint memories begin to trickle in as if to help him understand. It causes a warm, paternal feeling to fill his entire chest.

The child stares up at him and he can’t help but be surprised when he sees his and Hope’s features in there. The girl has Hope’s nose and dazzling blue eyes, along with his lips and unruly dark hair. Could this somehow be their daughter?

His body seems to move of it's own accord and he leans down some to ruffle the little girl's hair. "Hey sweetie, how was your day?"

"Good!" She declares enthusiastically. "Mommy was teaching me how to do magic!"

"Oh, was she now?" Landon grins, raising a teasing eyebrow at his wife who looks like she’s just been caught red handed.

“Thought we agreed to wait a little while longer before that?”

Hope sighs and looks over at the child. “Well, someone was trying to learn to fly by jumping off the porch this morning... Clearly taking after her father.” She adds with a smirk, thinking back to their school days where he’d tried jumping off the roof, making Landon blush slightly in embarrassment.

“So I thought a couple of simple spells might be a bit safer for right now.”

Landon nods, understanding completely. “Gotcha.”

“I wanna show you!” She insists, tugging on his wrist to pull him towards the house.

"Luna, sweetheart" Hope starts, the child's name coming to her without even thinking. "Why don't you go wait inside, mommy and daddy just need to talk for a minute. Then we’ll be right in.”

The girl frowns, but then quickly nods before clumsily running back up the steps and into the house. When she’s safely back inside and out of earshot, their minds shift back to that of their younger selves.

"What just happened?” Landon whispers, coming to stand beside Hope.

Hope opens her mouth, but struggles to find the words as she tries to put together a coherent thought. "I- I don't know." She eventually manages to stammer out. None of this made any sense. Was this the work of another monster? The Necromancer? She didn’t sense any dark magic at work.

The strange thing about this place was that it’s completely foreign, but also so familiar all at the same time. There's a house neither of them recognize, but it somehow feels like home. A little girl they've never seen before, and yet they both know they’d willingly die for her if she was in danger. What on earth was going on?

"Is this... our future?" Landon asks hesitantly, staring at Hope with disbelief.

The question affects Hope in a way she hadn’t really expected. As a Mikaelson, family meant always and forever to her. But considering how many of them she'd lost over the years, she’s never really allowed herself to indulge in the thoughts of having a family of her own one day. There was always the chance she'd wind up turning before she ever got that chance, and that was a disappointment she didn’t want to set herself up for. But seeing this... perhaps she’d been wrong.

"If it is, it's a pretty nice." She admits softly, slipping her hand into Landon’s, causing him to smile.

He’s only 18 and hardly thinking about things _this_ far down the line, after all, he hasn't even graduated high school yet. But his heart can't help feeling a longing pang at this life playing out before him. Growing up, all ever wanted was a family. Over the years he'd managed to find versions of that: a brother in Raf, semblances of a father figure in Mr. Williams and Dr. Saltzman. But there was always still a void there, something unfulfilled. This though, this life with Hope and his daughter, it made him forget all about that emptiness he’d always known.

"It is." Landon agrees, as they look at the home before them.

The tender moment is unfortunately interrupted however by a sharp pain cutting through Landon’s back. He chokes out a gasp and looks down to find a muddy hand sticking out from his abdomen. Landon futilely clutches at his stomach, trying to stop whatever is happening to him, but to no avail. The mud starts to lose its shape and begins to slowly be absorbed into his body.

"Hope..." He barely manages to desperately whisper before crumpling onto the grass.

"Landon!" Hope cries out in anguish, rushing to his side. His body momentarily goes limp in her arms before snapping back with sudden rigidity as he begins moving again. Her relief that he's alright is short lived as she's immediately overcome with a sense that something is wrong.

"Hello, Hope. It's been awhile." He murmurs darkly as he slowly raises his head up to meet her eyes and smirks at her. Hope stumbles back in surprise before quickly getting to her feet, the anger slowly seething within her.

“Malivore.”

“Did you really think you could hide from me? I was always going to come for him.”

Hope swallows hard, jaw clenched, lips quivering ever so slightly. They had thought they were finally safe, free of the looming shadow always hanging over their heads. It appeared they were wrong.

He cracks his neck and rolls his shoulders back, getting a feel for the body. It's not as impressive as he would of hoped when he created the boy, but it will do. After centuries of imprisonment he's finally free to pursue what he’s always wanted.

"It appears you’ve already started on my plan to create the new bloodline." He remarks, glancing towards the window where a young Luna can be seen blissfully playing with her toys inside, unaware of the danger lurking right out the front door.

"Shame you had to go and taint it with tribrid blood." Malivore's disdain for his creators is evident as he shakes his head and snickers, flexing his fingers in preparation. "That simply won't do."

"Don't you **dare** touch her!" Hope growls protectively, eyes flashing gold with an unspoken threat.

But the monster masquerading as a man remains completely unfazed by her aggressive display, exhaling a bored sigh. “This body is incapable of dying, as you well know. You'll have to take a far more _drastic_ step to be rid of me."

She knows exactly what he's implying, activating her vampire side. It was the whole reason why when she'd thrown herself into the pit that it hadn't destroyed him.

"But be aware, doing so will make you lose him too." He cautions.

His warning unnerves her, but she swallows down the rising fear that threatens to steal her voice and smirks at him.

"Excuse me if I don't exactly believe you." She retorts sharply, crossing her arms over her chest.

Malivore shrugs plainly. "Believe what you want, but the outcome will be the same. You'll soon realize that."

And somehow as if on cue, time flashes forward to different moment in the future where Hope is now hunched over Landon's lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably as she presses her forehead to his. She whispers heartbroken apologies over and over, apologies that he’ll never hear. She knows he won't be coming back this time.

The tragic scene fades to white, and both her and Landon suddenly find themselves back in the room they were in prior, as if nothing had ever happened.

Hope stands there visibly shaken, eyes teary as she looks up at Landon who immediately pulls her close. She nestles her head into his chest, doing everything she can to get that horrid image out of her mind.

"What the hell was that?" Hope questions, voice trembling as she attempts to catch her breath.

What they saw scares him too, and if he’s being honest, he needs this hug almost as much he she does. “I don’t know. But it wasn’t real, okay? I’m right here.” Landon reminds her, pressing a gentle kiss to her head and holding her a little tighter to reassure that fact.

It takes Hope a few minutes to finally steady herself again, but she knows they need to get out of here, so she presses forward. Wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, she steps back up to the device. Reaching out her fingers, she touches a different string this time, hoping this one might be their ticket back home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! After much interruptions every time I tried to work on this (I was hoping to be done days ago), it's finally done! Thank you all for sticking with this! I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Also, since the show has never really explained the depths and limits of the Necromancer's powers, I took some small creative liberties with it.

A bright light over takes the room and they’re transported to a place that they easily recognize this time around. The Salvatore School. Hope exhales a sigh of relief at the sight of the familiar halls, glad to finally be back. But wait, why were they-

"Morning Headmistress!" One of the students greets as they walk by Hope in the hallway.

Confused, she's look around thinking that perhaps Caroline has returned while she was away. It would make sense, given everything the twins have just went through. But Hope doesn't see any sign of the older blonde woman anywhere. Did she perhaps just mishear the girl?

But before she’s able to properly question that, she finds herself suddenly overcome by an intense wave of exhaustion that causes her to momentarily lose her balance. She hastily clutches onto the edge of a nearby table in order to keep upright.

A pair of steadying hands find there way to her sides, and she looks up to see that they belong to Landon. The faculty badge hanging around his neck confirms her early suspicions that something was amiss here. They're not back at the school, at least, not the real one. Much like last time, distant memories fill in the blanks and her present mindset temporarily fades to make way for this version of her.

"Hey, you okay? Was it another attack?" Landon asks, his worried eyes meeting hers, and she forces a reassuring smile onto her face.

"It was just a little one. I'm fine, really."

Landon frowns. "The stress of hosting this year’s annual Miss Mystic Falls Pageant probably isn't helping things either."

“Is that my fiancé talking or the school's psychologist?" Hope teases with a small grin, earning a small chuckle from Landon before his expression returns to that of concern.

"I'm serious though, Hope. I'm worried about you. We haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with you. You should really take it easy.”

She brings her hands up to cup his face. "I will, I promise. After tomorrow, okay?"

Landon still doesn't seem all that happy with her answer, but eventually concedes with a begrudging sigh and slight nod.

"Fine. Just, _please_ be careful."

The utter fear in his voice makes her heart ache, and the truth is, maybe she's a little worried too. This feeling reminds her of something, something she dare not speak the name of. But she's quick to remind herself that that particular threat was long gone. Whatever this was, it had to be something else.

Clinging to that notion, Hope smiles at Landon. "Yes, Dr. Kirby."

Landon rolls his eyes, but before he can respond, an ear-piercing scream reverberates it's way through the building. Panicked for their students, they both take off in the direction of the sound in search of the source.

When they arrive outside, they find themselves face to face when an old, and rather bothersome foe they hadn’t seen in years.

"Get the kids inside!" Hope shouts to one of her colleagues nearby, who quickly begins to herd the children back into the building.

The master of the dead, formerly known as Ted, gracefully strolls up to the pair who stand guard to protect the school. Sporting an impish grin, he eyes his former adversaries with intrigue.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Tribrid and the Phoenix. Still together after all these years? How darling."

"What the hell do you want?" Hope shoots back disdainfully. She's got no patience for his usual array of antics and mind games. He'd already caused enough trauma for them and their friends to last a lifetime.

The Necromancer feigns offense, placing a hand on his chest as if wounded by her reaction. "My word. Is that how you greet someone who's only here to help?"

"Help make things worse." Landon mumbles dryly, causing the man to glance over at him unamused. The supernatural raises his hands up in a nonchalant shrug, gradually starting to turn his back on them. “If you really don’t want to know what's wrong with her, then perhaps I'll just be on my way."

Hope and Landon immediately exchange a look with one another, doing their best to hide their surprise. How could he possibly know about that?

"Wait!" Landon calls out without thinking, his concern for Hope getting the better of him. The man stops in his tracks and slowly turns around with a pleased smirk on his face. "Do I have your attention, now?"

The Necromancer begins to casually the circle the twosome, clearly taking pleasure in making them wait. An already skeptical Hope is about two seconds from making a threat involving turning the man inside out if he doesn't start talking, but before she can, he finally decides it's been long enough.

“Your condition is the courtesy of an old friend you were **_quite_** close with as a child." He states cryptically, looking directly at her.

Hope's eyes widen in shock and she feels as if all the air has been sucked out of her lungs. The horrible realization hits her full force and she physically stumbles back at the news. It was exactly what she'd feared. “No." She shakes her head vigorously. "That’s not possible! My father and uncle sacrificed themselves in order to stop the Hollow! She's gone!"

Landon exhales sharply, knowing exactly who and what the Hollow was. Hope had told him the stories about those periods in her life. He knows how devastating this is for her.

"Was gone." The man corrects her, with a wag of his finger. “Much like everything else these days, she’s been given a bit reboot you might say. You see, I had temporary need of your uncle for a small something. Which let me tell you, pulling off that little stunt was not an easy feat given the man was basically the remnants of an ashtray when I found him." He takes a brief moment to admire his own skills before continuing on.

"But apparently he came back with a little added bonus I hadn't been aware of. An unexpected turn of events, I assure you. And despite the immense dark magic I've incurred, I was only able to resurrect an Original for a very short period of time. But it was long enough for the vindictive little parasite to give him the slip."

Hope struggles to breath, body trembling. Even after all these years, she still had nightmares of the Hollow returning. She'd wake up in the middle of the night from them, drenched in sweat and practically crying. Landon would have to hold her in his arms until she eventually relaxed enough to sleep again or until finally passing out from the exhaustion. Even the usual comfort of Landon's touch doesn't help right now. Not when it's real this time.

"But fear not, all hope isn't lost." He chuckles. "No pun intended. She can be saved though," He turns his attention back over to Landon. "by you."

Landon steps forward, voice frantic. "How!?"

Hope grabs her fiancé's arm to stop him. "Landon, no! We can't trust him!" He looks back at her, painfully conflicted, eyes apologetic as he slowly pulls away from her grip and moves closer to the Necromancer.

"How?" He repeats, firmer this time.

“By becoming Malivore’s vessel, of course."

Landon narrows his eyes at the ludicrous suggestion. "How does that help Hope?"

“Do you forget boy? Your father was known as the ‘Eater Of The Dark’, capable of absorbing and sealing away practically any creature it came across. With his powers, you could easily remove the spirit that afflicts her."

Landon glances back at Hope a moment before staring down at the ground, pondering over such a drastic measure.

"Of course, that entails serving me." He adds, almost as an afterthought, making Landon's head pop up in surprise.

The Necromancer lets out a dark laugh. "You certainly didn't think I was here out of the kindness of my cold black heart did you? There's strings attached Pinocchio. I take you to the pit, you serve me. That's the deal."

The young man glares at the creature, teeth gritted in frustration.

“If you sit by and do nothing, the dark magic will tear her apart from the inside and she will die.” He warns, tapping at an imaginary watch on his wrist. "Time's ticking."

Hope couldn't stand to listen to anymore of this. The Hollow had already taken enough from her, she certainly wasn't about to add Landon to that list. She knew he was genuinely considering this, and she couldn't let that happen.

She goes to summon upon her magic, prepared to psychically stop Landon from going through with this crazy plan. But as she does so, an unbearable pain overcomes her, and she collapses to the ground in a heap.

"Hope!" He calls out, rushing back to her side and kneeling down next to her. Breathing ragged, she attempts to get back up and push through, but her body has other plans. It crumples immediately, and Landon catches her in his arms, carefully lowering her back down onto the grass. 

The horrifying sight of her in this state only confirms Landon's decision. He rests his forehead against hers, tears silently trailing down his cheeks as he clasps Hope's hands between his.

"Do you remember years ago when you had to choose between rescuing me or saving everyone trapped in the prison world? I told you if it had been in your shoes, I wasn't sure that I could make the same choice." He swallows painfully, trying to keep it together. "I can't watch you die, Hope. I just... I can't. Not when I know that I could prevent it."

"Landon, please..." She whispers, voice thick with tears. "Don't do this."

He hates to do this to her, cause her this pain. But what choice does he really have? There wasn't any time for a plan b. He was losing her, and fast. "I'm sorry, Hope. I love you. Keep them safe."

Landon presses a desperate, longing kiss to her lips and she can feel ever ounce of his love for her in it. Reluctantly he pulls away, breathless, letting his hands slowly slip out from hers as he stands up.

And in that moment, something in her knows that shes losing him forever. That this will be the last time they're ever together like this. Where Landon is still himself.

"You'll make sure that the spirit is removed from her?" The young man asks, needing assurance on that before agreeing to this. Once Malivore took him over, all bets were off.

The Necromancer grins joyously, eyes dancing with excitement. "Of course. But if you need it in writing, that can also be arranged. So what do you say, boy? Do we have a deal?"

Landon exhales a heavy sigh, reaching his arm out to shake the other man's hand.

"Deal."

* * *

The world around them fades and the young couple is once again back where they started. Although the void is a surprisingly welcome sight compared to earlier, it’s hard to shake the residual emotions from the previous ordeal. Its taken an obvious toll on both of them, but Hope especially.

She eyes the relic before her, scouring the recesses of her mind for an answer on what this thing is. It's familiar. Something she'd read about in class before. When it finally clicks, it's not the revelation that she's been hoping for. Tightly squeezing her eyes shut, she shakes her head, not wanting to believe it.

"I know what that is..." Hope confesses quietly, and Landon turns to her curiously.

"It's the Loom Of Fate."

Landon quirks his head to the side. “From Greek mythology?"

Hope nods grimly. "Each string represents a different outcome from a fixed point in time, and when a person touches it, it gives them a glimpse at possible futures."

Landon swallows nervously, torn by certain aspects of what they'd just experienced. "So everything we just saw..."

"Could actually happen?" She finishes. "Yeah. It could."

He can already see the distress in her features, her mind going to all the worst case scenarios.

"Just because it ended badly in those two, doesn't mean that it would in the others." He offers, always the optimist.

There was only one way to find out.

Hope steps up to the loom and grabs a handful of threads all at once, causing a number of different futures to instantly flash by before them. Hundreds of possible futures together, but all the outcomes remain the same... One of them is always forced to destroy the other.

Thoroughly frustrated by what she sees, Hope forcefully releases them from her grip, not even caring if she breaks the thing. The simulation Miss Tig had put them through was right, her and Landon really were doomed.

"Hope..." He calls out cautiously, coming closer to her, but she's quick to move way.

"No." She shakes her head, voice stern. "Don't." His comfort would hurt too much right now.

A mixture of helplessness and anger fills her chest and she clenches her hands into a ball. She was at the mercy of the universe's sick whims. Nature had allowed her to exists in order to destroy Malivore, and she just happened to fall in love with his son/would be vessel. It was like the universe was cruelly laughing in her face at her terrible misfortune. Hadn't it already broken her heart enough? Did it really want more from her?

"Can't you see!?" The Tribrid sobs, overwhelmed by everything she's learned. "No matter how much I love you, how much I _**want**_ us to be together..." She gestures to the loom. "This is our destiny. Remember the prophecy? Love is the greatest destroyer of all? It was about us. If we stay together, then this is the fate that awaits us!"

Landon shakes his vigorously head, slowly making his way towards her. "No. I don't believe that. We make our own fate, it is not the work of some-some magical sewing machine!”

"I wish I could believe you, I really do. But I won't be the reason you become Malivore! I-" Another sob steals her voice and she looks away. "I won't be the reason you _**die**_. I love you too much to lose you like that."

When she finally looks back up, he's now right in front of her. She's surprised by how close he is, but she can't bring herself to pull back this time. When his arms envelop her she just loses it, tears flowing as she pounds her tiny fists against his chest in frustration.

He understands that she thinks she’s protecting him. Maybe she’s even protecting herself a little bit too, hoping to spare herself anymore heartbreak. Lord knows she’s had enough of that for multiple lifetimes. But in spite all he’s seen here, his resolve hasn’t wavered. Death doesn’t scare him anymore, but losing Hope does.

"Do you remember when we watched Avengers: Infinity War?"

The utterly bizarre question throws Hope for a loop, and she stares up at him exasperated, unable to believe he's really bringing this up right now. But before she can even question him, Landon hastily tries to make his point.

"The part when Doctor Strange saw 14,000,605 different futures and they lost in all of them, except for one? Hope, if there is even a fraction of a chance that there's a future out there for us where we're both still left standing at the end of this, I'm gonna fight for it. For us."

Hope sighs wearily, heart heavy. She doesn't want to give up on them either.

"I know you're scared, I am too." He admits, the memory of her in such pain still fresh in his mind. "You say that the prophecy about 'love being the greatest destroyer of all' is about us, and I think you're right. But just like with the golden arrow, I think we misunderstood its meaning. I don't think that our love for each other will destroy us, I think it'll destroy whatever comes our way.”

Hope looks up, eyes wide, but hesitant. "How can you be so sure about this? Knowing what could happen to you."

Landon shrugs simply. "Because I rather live a life of love with you, no matter how short, than be alone and live forever. Malivore's always going to come for me, no matter what. I can't escape that. But we stand a way better chance of beating him together than we ever will apart."

She quietly takes in everything he's said, conflicted on what to do. It was clear Landon wasn't going to give up on them, in spite everything he saw that could await them. In some ways, maybe he was braver than her in that aspect. She'd never let him take on this fight alone, whether they were together or not. But can she really say that letting him go would protect him from this? She'd already tried that once when she threw herself into the pit, which had royally backfired. Maybe she had to finally accept that she couldn't protect him this time, at least, not by herself.

"Okay." She finally decides. "If we take risks, we take them together. Right?"

Landon smiles. "Exactly. Co-heroes."

"So then, how do we get out of here and do that?" Hope asks as she look around the void.

"I have a theory." He offers.

Despite getting here first, the loom hadn't shown up until Hope did. This place needed them both in order for it to work it seemed, so logically, it should work the same way for them leaving.

He turns to look at her. "If we're gonna get out of here, I think we need to do it together."

She stares at him a moment before finally nodding, following his lead. This time around, they both grab the same string at the same time, allowing the bright light to consume their forms.

* * *

Hope is the first to wake up, eyes slowly fluttering open and blinking away the blurriness of sleep. It takes her a moment to realize that she's in Landon's room, the familiar movie posters on the wall staring back at her. She's a bit confused as to why she's here in his bed and not in Dr. Saltzman's office, when suddenly she becomes aware of something moving beside her.

Turning her head to the left, she notices a slowly stirring Landon. Glancing down, she's surprised to find their fingers were interlaced with one another. How had that happened, she briefly wonders.

Landon lets out a small groan as he opens up his eyes, squinting at the lights before rolling over and noticing Hope. It's clear he hadn't expected to find her here either, but the shock is quickly replaced with a content smile.

"I guess we did it."

Hope let's out a quiet hum in agreement, lips briefly turning up in return. But after a moment, her gaze appears distant and Landon goes to rub his hand against her arm.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah." She replies with a quick nod, but Landon's not really buying it. Hope sighs, nestling her more comfortably into the pillow. "It's just, all of that was a lot." She confesses, and Landon bobs his head in understanding.

"I know. But we'll figure things out." He reassures her, before a tiny grin slowly starts to spread across his face. "But, if there’s one thing that we learned from all this... it's that we'd make some pretty cute kids."

Something about the way he says that makes Hope blush. "Landon!" She scolds in a hushed whisper, before letting out a small giggle as she shook her head. He wasn't wrong though.

"Little Luna was pretty cute." She admits fondly. "Think we'll ever see her again?"

Landon let's out a thoughtful sigh, thinking over the question. "I don't know. But I hope so."

Though neither of them had any idea what the future might hold for them now, they knew that they'd take it head on. Together.


End file.
